The Philipinos refer to the island at the mouth of Manila Bay simply as "the rocks". But it was here that one of the most fateful events of the nation took place. It was on Corregidor that the American forces and their Philippine allies were forced to surrended to the superior force of the Japanese in 1942. "The rocks" are perforated with tunnels where the defence forces hid. Today one can see the ruins of the defences and the one-and-a-half metre long Malinta Tunnel, once the headquarters of General Douglas Mac Arthur. It was here that the supreme commander of the Pacific forces spoke the immortal words "I shall return".
